


Wang Fire's Mattresses

by Duckseamail



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: All the time, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Bending (Avatar), Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Slice of Life, atlasecretsanta2020, zuko is very tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28302681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duckseamail/pseuds/Duckseamail
Summary: Prompt: In which sleep-deprived Zuko needs a new mattress, and accidentally takes a nap in the mattress store. He wakes up to find that the manager (Sokka), has been using him as free advertising.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 33
Kudos: 237





	1. The Store

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Haicrescendo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haicrescendo/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my fic for the atla secret santa 2020! this is only my second time participating in a fic exchange and it was really fun! I hope my recipient likes this, I had such a good time with the prompt (also I love your writing, Haicrescendo, i was kinda starstruck when i was assigned to write for you). Enjoy!

“As you can see, folks, there's nothing to worry about here. This man is just asleep! In fact, isn’t it amazing that he’s sleeping through all this commotion right now? Just goes to show you that Wang Fire mattresses are some of the best! We get this kind of thing at least 10 times a day, you know.”

Zuko wakes up to the most annoying customer service voice he’s ever heard. He grumbles and snuggles his face deeper into his cloud-like pillow. It smells nicer than usual, actually. Kind of citrusy. It reminds Zuko of the fabric softener used on his family’s linens when he was a kid. 

One of his favorite memories is tied to this scent, actually. When Zuko was seven years old -and Azula was five- they had been as thick as thieves together. In this particular dream-memory, Zuko had been sleeping in for once. He’d stayed up late the night before, listening to Azula planning the Liberate the Chile Buns Heist. (The new chef had been practicing for the coming holidays, and for weeks there had been mediocre chile buns just being tossed into the garbage like there was an infinite supply of the delicious dessert just growing on trees!) 

But anyway, back to Past-Zuko.

He had inhaled the comforting scent of his silk pillowcase, with a ray of sun kissing his head when suddenly a pitter-patter of feet across his bedroom floor turned into a wild shriek. One moment, Zuko’s back had been blissfully light and the next, a heavy weight smooshed him firmly down into his bed (Possibly breaking his back. Who knew what little sisters were capable of).

“Zuzu!” Azula had whispered in his ear, “It’s time!” 

“Mphh mmfsh,” Zuko had said because his face was pushed into his pillow, and lemon-scented fabric was partially stuffed in his mouth. Azula had giggled and rolled over, spreading her arms and legs out like a starfish. 

She looked over at Zuko and said, “Come on, get up!”

Zuko just grumbled and rolled away from her, pretending to ignore her insistent look.

“Heeeeeyyy,” Azula said, poking his back, “You need to get up! We really aren’t supposed to let customers sleep on the merchandise.”

Zuko jerks his eyes open from the dream because his sister definitely hadn’t said that. Chilling, fluorescent light floods his eyes, and for a moment, he’s fully blind. Slowly, he processes that a person is leaning over him.

Zuko’s brain is still playing catch-up, so he spends a few moments studying this (very attractive) person.

They have warm, medium brown skin and shining brown eyes that remind Zuko a bit of looking at the sand at the bottom of a clear blue river. Their hair is pulled up in a ponytail, but the sides are short, and it looks like they’d be spiky to the touch. But the ponytail...he thinks it would be soft. Yeah, the deep brown looks inviting, and Zuko is sure that if he ever got the chance to run his hands through it, he would melt. 

A quick glance over their shirt reveals a metal name tag that says “Sokka, he/him/his, Manager,” which isn’t good because Zuko will definitely be in trouble since the manager had to come to wake him up.

Preemptive apologies seem to be the way to go.

“I’m sorry, I have no idea how that happened,” He rasps, pushing himself clumsily up off the soft mattress. Why does it have to be so cloud-like? It’s making Zuko look like a fool. 

“It’s okay,” Sokka says, holding out a hand to help Zuko up, “I understand. These mattresses can be pretty fire. Wang Fire!” He breaks into a wheezy, high pitched laugh at his own joke, his grip tightening around Zuko’s fingers. 

“Get it?!” Sokka says, heaving for breath. “Because we’re the Wang Fire Mattress company!”

Zuko gives him a thin-lipped smile and starts to subtly pull his hand away. Sokka’s hands are ice cold, which is a nice contrast to Zuko’s own, but he also doesn’t particularly want to be holding hands with a cute stranger. It’s a recipe for something disastrously embarrassing coming out of his mouth. 

“Anyway, can I help you find what you want?” 

Zuko opens his mouth to answer, but nothing comes forward. Everything had been happening so quickly since he woke up. At least he remembers why he’s here. It’s because he’d just moved in with Uncle, and there hadn’t exactly been much preparation for that. (Zuko had just shown up on Uncle’s doorstep a few weeks ago, and the only extra bed in his cozy apartment was old and had springs poking out in all sorts of uncomfortable places.)

The memory comes back to him slowly. He had finally had enough of two hours of fitful sleep a night and had taken the afternoon off to browse the nearby mattress store. When he’d walked in, it was blissfully quiet, with only a few people walking around far away from each other and a couple employees chit chatting by a register. 

“Yo. Dude. You okay?” Zuko shakes his head and focuses on Sokka, who is peering at him intently. 

“Agni, I’m sorry, I spaced out for a moment, I guess.” He replies. Zuko presses his palms to his face and takes a deep breath. What question was he supposed to be answering? 

“Did you want to get this mattress?” Sokka speaks again, “I can also show you ones similar to this that are a bit cheaper.” Zuko blinks slowly. That prompted a thought that’s just out of reach...

Right! When he’d passed a bright red sign loudly proclaiming, “Try out our new mattress, the Super Sleeper!!”, Zuko had put aside his usual self-consciousness and sat down on the edge of the bed covered in a downy gray blanket. Immediately, he’d sunk down a few inches into the squishiest mattress Zuko had ever had the pleasure of touching. Very quickly, sitting had turned into lying down for a second to get a feel for it, which had become full-on pressing his face into the plush pillow, and then-

“Hello? Anybody home??”

“Oh my gosh, will you stop interrupting my flashbacks?!”

Sokka gapes at him, and Zuko can feel his brain _die_ at the words that just came out of his stupid, stupid, traitorous mouth.

Zuko’s feet take control of his body away from his brain and start walking him away from this horrible interaction. Thank Agni. Zuko is pretty sure if he tried, he could turn into a walking silhouette of fire just from the power of his embarrassment.

The light breeze outside the store cools his face a little bit, but Zuko still walks as fast as he can -almost jogging, honestly- to put as much distance between him and that store manager as possible. He weaves through the crowds around him and bounces on his toes at the intersection, waiting for the signal to change. 

Pressing his forehead against the cool metal of the light post is a welcome jolt from his thoughts, which had been flicking between _you can never go back to that store again; why do you have to be so dramatic; and that mattress was amazing, too bad I can’t go back and get it._

Soon enough, the people surrounding him at the corner push forward, and Zuko is swept along across the street. It may only be late afternoon, but the minute he gets home, he’s going to take a long, burning hot shower and sleep. Possibly for days. In his horribly uncomfortable bed, which seems like it will stay that way as of this afternoon. Zuko sighs and glares up at the sky. Stupid mattress shopping.


	2. The Store: Redux

Zuko spends the next week trying to pretend that the heavy woolenness in his eyes and the painful crick in his neck is ok. It’s only when Uncle asks him what’s wrong when he catches Zuko rubbing it constantly that he resigns to the fact that this can’t go on any longer (really, it should have been taken care of last week).

He pulls out his phone and looks up “wang fire mattresses in ba sing se” and gets three results. Tapping on each of them, he sees that there is one in each ring. So, the upper ring is out, but the middle ring is a possibility...the only problem would be catching the tram because it was almost rush hour, which meant it would be packed coming back to the lower ring. Sometimes, Zuko can deal with being in a small, crowded place, but the thought of doing that today makes his stomach churn.

Frowning at the last dot on the map, he considers the possibility of reencountering the pretty manager. It makes his face flush hotly at the mere thought of it, but surely odds are in his favor for Sokka not being on duty now? Wang Fire Mattresses was generally pretty profitable, so there are probably a whole bunch of different managers doing their...managing.

Also, that particular Wang Fire store had terrific online reviews, so he pushes out the door and walks determinedly down the block. 

It’s actually a pretty great day for a walk, Zuko thinks, as he passes a gaggle of shouting children. The sky is free of clouds, which means the forecasted rain must be passing Ba Sing Se by. Flowers planted in large ceramic pots on the steps of apartments and small shops sway gently, and all of the ambiance plus his sleep-deprived state is enough to make Zuko feel a bit like he’s walking in a dream. 

That dream is immediately shattered when he enters the large, brightly lit, smelling-too-strongly-of-lemons store.

Zuko doesn’t know how long he stands just in front of the automatic doors, staring helplessly out at the many _many_ mattresses, but it must be long enough to look out of place. He knows this because the person at the nearest cash register calls out to him, “Do you need help finding anything?”

“No. Uh - no, thank you.” Zuko mutters, then briskly walks towards the closest aisle of mattresses, his head down. 

Two mattresses in, Zuko figures he should actually be doing the _shopping_ part of shopping for mattresses, so he presses a single hand into the display in front of him. He is not going to get carried away this time. From his previous experience, being tired while at this place is a dangerous combination.

So, Zuko resigns himself to placing a hand on each mattress he walks past.

Some rock hard ones that make a strange thwack-ing sound when he hits them, and some are extraordinarily soft. So soft, in fact, that Zuko thinks they might be a bit of a hazard. And of course, there are plenty of average softness beds to sink his hands into as well.

These observations don’t help Zuko decide because Agni forbid his life be too straightforward. No, Zuko doesn’t really know exactly what he wants in a mattress, besides being new and sleepable.

Plus, time was being kind of wobbly. He’d looked at his phone before he walked in, and the time was 3:00 in the afternoon. Two minutes ago, he’d looked at his phone again and was gobsmacked to find out that all of a sudden, it was 5:14.

It does explain why so many employees had come up to ask if he was “finding everything ok.”

Of course, Zuko brushes every single one of them off with an absent-minded “yes yes.”

His reassurances probably aren’t helping, though, because he can see anxious looking faces peeking at him every few minutes, and all of those faces are attached to a body wearing the Wang Fire uniform.

“Hey, the people on shift are really starting to freak out, man. You’re basically a zombie.”

Whirling around, Zukp immediately groans when he comes face to face with Sokka, the cute manager from last week. Of _course_ this guy is here now. And a witty remark - but not so witty that it sounds like he cares - is the only way to respond to that little jab.

“I don’t think a zombie would have the brain capacity to go shopping. Also, I’d probably have eaten some people by now.” Zuko says, deadpan.

Apparently, it’s a funny joke because a semi-familiar wheezy laugh dances in the air for a few moments before dying out.

“Alright, so _you_ are hilarious.” Sokka says, looking at Zuko in a way that makes heat rush to his face. “But seriously. Will you please let me help you find a mattress?”

Zuko bites his lip and studies Sokka carefully. He looks painfully earnest, and although Zuko isn’t quite sure why he looks like that at the thought of helping _him_ find a mattress, he can’t bring himself to wipe that look away. So he says yes.

Sokka immediately starts walking away, chatting a mile a minute, and Zuko has to scramble to catch up.

“So, my first question is, do you know vaguely what you’re looking for? Personally, I like the softer mattresses, which is the section we’re in now.” Sokka takes a right down the next aisle over, and Zuko trots along next to him. “There’s just something about coming home from a long day, spending a large chunk of it sitting at a drafting table, and just getting to lay down and sink into a mattress that’s like a fluffy hug, you know?”

There’s a long, pregnant pause before Zuko realizes Sokka is expecting him to answer. 

“Sure. I like soft ones. But not too soft. Kind of...squishy?”

If Zuko were alone, he would definitely facepalm. Why can’t he just speak in clear, intelligent sentences?! Luckily, if Sokka thinks it was a weird thing to say, he doesn’t show it. He just nods and places a palm down on the bed immediately to his left.

“This one might fit those requirements; you wanna try it out?”

“No, thanks,” he says and briskly walks on to the next display, Sokka presumably following behind him. 

They repeat this song and dance quite a few times over the next twenty-ish minutes before Sokka halts in the middle of his now-familiar spiel to say, “Listen, I don’t know why you aren’t trying out any beds - you aren’t even touching them which is a little odd, gotta be honest, but you’ll never pick a good one at this rate. Will you just explain to me why? If you’re worried about cleanliness, I promise we wash the sheets basically every day.” Something changes in Sokka’s face, and he goes from serious to contemplative and far away. “That’s actually what my friend who’s at the register right now does. She’s a water bender, so we get a group of the newbies to hold up the sheets, and she just goes at it. If my sister weren’t so busy with med school and teaching at our local dojo, I think she would totally take this on as a job because it looks _so_ fun.”

He stops speaking and just stares wistfully at thin air for a moment. Is he imagining using water bending to clean sheets? That really shouldn’t be as adorable as it is.

Sokka gives himself a little shake as he pulls himself back to the present and repeats his question to Zuko.

Should he explain? Would Sokka even care? It honestly wasn’t an interesting reason. But, he was still staring directly into Zuko’s eyes (which felt a little forward to him but whatever), and so he answered.

“I haven’t gotten a good night's sleep in what feels like months now because the mattress I have now is shit, and when I tried one out last time, I was so exhausted I fell asleep, and it was one of the most embarrassing days of my life. So. I don’t want to repeat that.”

Sokka hums and nods, rubbing at his chin like some old-time-y detective that was in the process of solving a case. 

“So,” he says, “Would I be correct in assuming you’re exhausted now too?”

He just gives Sokka a baleful look and doesn't stifle his wide yawn like he’s been doing all afternoon.

“Point taken. But you know, if you’re really that tired, you can just pick a display and take a nap. I can even show you the one you slept on last time! How ‘bout it?” He says all this with a sweet smile on his face, and Zuko can’t help but entertain the idea for a moment.

He must have an unsure look on his face because the next thing Sokka says is, “You won’t get in trouble. I am the manager, after all.” 

And then he has the _audacity_ to wink at Zuko! 

But...he is really tired, and that mattress _was_ extraordinarily cozy when he was here last so...Zuko nods his head, but isn’t at all prepared for Sokka to excitedly grab his hand and rush him across the store to the bed display. 

_Well_ , he thinks, _it’s time for an afternoon nap._


	3. The Messages

Zuko is slowly coaxed out of sleep by a warm hand, rocking his shoulder back and forth. It’s so close to feeling like a relaxing massage that he almost tries to go back to dreamland. Though, he hadn’t actually had any dreams during his nap, which just made it better, in his opinion.

Also, he’s in a store, and that’s a pretty good reason to get up when you’re told to. Doesn’t mean Zuko has to _like_ it, though.

But, he yawns and stretches anyway, slowly pulling himself up into a seated position on the bed. He rubs at his scarred eye. It always gathers little sleep crusties, which is extremely annoying.

“Wow,” Sokka’s voice comes from somewhere in front of him, “You are so cute.”

And that definitely wakes Zuko up. He opens his eyes in shock and flutters his hands around in front of him, unsure where to put them in his flustered state. He stares at Sokka, who has a nervous, pinched, look on his face, but he doesn’t seem like he regrets saying that he...thought Zuko was cute (Zuko would be replaying those words in his mind for the rest of the day, he’s sure of it).

Wait. Sokka’s probably nervous because he hasn’t responded yet; he should say something. Something flattering. If he does that, he might get a date out of this interaction.

“Normally, I’d call that a weak compliment, but coming from the hottest guy I’ve seen in a while, I’ll take it.”

Zuko watches Sokka’s mouth drop open in surprise, then smoothly morph into a blinding grin. He continues watching as a small laugh meets the air and grows into a body shaking guffaw. Strangely enough, though, Zuko doesn’t feel like he’s being laughed _at_ , exactly. More like, Sokka seems to be the kind of person who just laughs whenever he’s happy, even if nothing uniquely funny is said.

The laughter is also contagious, and Zuko presses one of his hands to his mouth, trying and most likely failing, to muffle his own snorting giggle.

Zuko doesn’t know how long they were laughing for, exactly, but it simultaneously felt like an age and lightning-quick to when Sokka sighed gently and just smiled, studying Zuko’s face.

“Hey, so. We just flirted? Or, at least, I was, and it felt like you were flirting back, so I was hoping I could get your number?” Sokka says all this while fidgeting with a hair tie around his wrist.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d really like that.” Zuko says, and he can feel the shy smile appear on his face.

Quickly, Sokka slips his phone out of his pocket. Despite his fidgeting a moment ago, his fingers are nimble as he types in the password and navigates to his contacts app. Then, he eagerly holds it out for Zuko to take.

Staring down at the blank contact page is pretty nerve-wracking. Slowly (To avoid typos. He’d once put his name in someone's phone as “zulo” and it was so embarrassing), he types in his name and clicks to the emoji keyboard. Should he add one? He kind of wants to, but what would be appropriate? A heart might be too forward. What was something cute but not presumptuous???

A sparkle. That’s a friendly emoji that has some flirtatiousness in it that could also be interpreted as just a little thing-a-ma-jig, right?

 _Right_ , he answers himself.

When he hands the phone back, now with his phone number in it, Sokka smiles down at it and says. “Zuko. That’s a nice name; I like it!”

Oh Agni, he’d never introduced himself! Shit.

Zuko smiles nervously and mutters, “Thanks, your name’s cool too.” before he lets the conversation fall into an awkward silence.

Luckily, it’s interrupted by a static-y announcement throughout the store.

“Fifteen minutes until closing. Customers, please make your way to a register as soon as possible.”

“Oh,” Zuko gestures feebly over his shoulder to the door, “I should probably…”

“Yeah! Yep, I have some closing up stuff to get to, so…”

“Bye.” He walks backward, slowly, wondering if Sokka was going to say anything else. If he wasn’t, then Zuko probably looks pretty stupid right about now.

Sokka waves at him excitedly and calls out, “Bye! I’ll text you!”

 _This boy is so cute,_ Zuko thinks, turning and walking out of the store with a little bounce to his step.

* * *

Zuko lays out on his bed, his phone held above him with a mindless game open (for the pretense that he’s doing anything other than waiting for Sokka to text him). The light, bubbly background music does absolutely nothing to ease his nerves.

Every now and then, he leaves the game and opens his messaging app, just in case his notifications had spontaneously broken. (It could probably happen).

Finally, an hour and a half after he’d gotten back to Uncle’s apartment, his phone buzzes with a notification from an unknown number. Zuko is so clumsy in his hurry to open it that he almost drops his phone directly onto his face.

 **Unknown Number**  
hey! it’s Sokka, from the mattress store 😋😻💟

 **Zuko**  
Hello, Zuko here.  
I mean. you know that but  
Hi

 **Sokka**  
Lol, youre cute 😁

Zuko felt like his brain was screaming at him. What do you say in response to that?!?! Should he say thank you? You’re cute, too? Luckily, Sokka kept typing before he had to pick a reply.

 **Sokka**  
How’s your evening beend?  
*been  
I just finished work so hopefully u have something more interesting!

 **Zuko**  
No. I’ve just been at home  
My uncle made dinner, which was pretty good I guess

 **Sokka**  
Oh you live with your uncle! Cool!😎  
Whats he like?

 **Zuko**  
He’s really nice. He let me move in with him earlier this year and I was given a job at his tea shop  
The Jasmine Dragon, if youve ever been there?

 **Sokka**  
I havent but my friend Toph loves that place!!  
I cant believe your uncle owns it  
Small world lol 😂

 **Zuko**  
Yeah lol  
But my uncle always gives really vague, tea related advice, so I dont know if the fumes from working there all day are getting to him or something.

 **Sokka**  
Ha!!

Then, there’s a bit of a pause where the little bubbles indicating that Sokka is typing appear and disappear a few times.

 **Sokka**  
Anyway, i was wondering if u wanted to go on a date this saturday?  
I was thinking we could go to this AMAZING gua bao stand for lunch? Its near the park next to the university, btw  
Its honestly so good. I think youd like it!  
And we could go on a walk or something after?

 **Zuko**  
I’d love to do that, Sokka  
It sounds really nice

 **Sokka**  
Awesome!!😊😊😊  
Hey so i gotta go (trains almost at my stop)  
But i’ll text you soon, k?

 **Zuko**  
Ok, bye then

 **Sokka**  
Bye!!!!😘

Looking at the last text sent to him, Zuko feels his face flush. He buries his head in his pillow and pulls the blanket up so he’s covered in darkness and can be flustered in peace.

...he has a _date_. A giddy laugh slips out, and it takes him a long time to fall asleep that night.


	4. The Date

“Are you positive he’ll like them, Uncle?” 

Uncle nods firmly and claps a hand on Zuko’s shoulder. “I am certain, my nephew. I admit I’ve only ever had encounters with women, but I believe everyone appreciates the beauty of floral presentations!” 

Zuko looks down at the slightly wilted bouquet in his hands and then back up at his Uncle in disbelief. It’s some kind of Earth Kingdom flower he doesn’t recognize. And even though he may not know everything about dating, flowers seem pretty old-fashioned. And also, they should probably be in a more admirable condition.

Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time to run out and get some better ones because there’s a sturdy knock on the door that leads from the sidewalk to the stairs up to the apartment.

Zuko and his Uncle both run down those same stairs in order to not keep Sokka waiting. But, right as he’s about to reach out and turn the knob to face his date, Zuko freezes. His Uncle, however, does not, and he flings open the door and pushes Zuko out onto the stoop.

Unfortunately, pushing people unexpectedly often leads to tripping, and this is exactly what happens to Zuko. He goes stumbling _past_ the edge of the stoop and falls flowers first into Sokka’s arms. His. Very strong arms. Okay, wow. _Shelve that thought for another time, brain._

“You okay?” Sokka asks, and he looks so caring that Zuko just ends up nodding absentmindedly, focusing instead on studying the way his eyes shine. Then Sokka blinks, and he realizes he’s probably overstayed his welcome in Sokka’s embrace, so he steps back and quickly as he can without falling over again. 

“Here, these are for you,” Zuko says abruptly and holds out the (now wilted _and_ squished) flowers. “Do you like them?”

Gently, Sokka takes the bouquet and looks at it in awe. His mouth is dropped slightly open, and there’s a little bit of a flush visible on his cheeks. He brings his nose forward and sniffs at the flowers (Zuko had smelled them earlier and thought they were too cloyingly sweet, but Sokka seems to like it). 

“I love them, thank you.” Sokka whispers. He then takes a couple of blossoms, breaks them off their stems, and tucks them delicately into the tie holding his hair up in a wolf-tail. He looks beautiful. 

And then Uncle ruins the moment by saying, “Be safe, nephew, and come back at a reasonable hour, please.”

“Damn it, I’m an adult, Uncle! I can come back at whatever hour I want.” He pouts when he mutters the last part and grabs Sokka’s arm to pull him down the street and away from his laughing Uncle.

Eventually, though, Zuko has to let Sokka lead him to the train station since he doesn’t know where this “amazing” food stall is. The train is loud and busy as always, but it doesn’t take long to get to the stop near Ba Sing Se University, where a majority of the passengers disembark. 

Zuko can tell when they get near the market because he can hear the hustle and bustle of customers and merchants and even some animals. He thinks he might have seen an ostrich-horse.

But the further he and Sokka walk, the easier it is to smell the _food_. There’s a smell of meat almost everywhere they go. Sometimes, it’s chicken-pig; other times, it’s a type of fish, all of them accompanied by the smell of a tangy sauce or fried bread. For some reason, there is a very exuberant cabbage merchant wandering down the street. He also catches a glimpse of many, many dessert stalls, and when he spots an Air Nomad selling Mango and Moon Peach sticky rice, he taps excitedly on Sokka’s shoulder.

“We should get sticky rice after lunch! It’s my favorite dessert, ever, basically.”

Sokka smiles brightly and nods before his attention is drawn to an old woman standing over a steamer and pulling out some fluffy, white bao buns.

“Here it is, Zuko! The place where the magic happens!” Sokka walks up to the woman, and when she looks up, her wrinkled face forms a kind grin. It’s one of those smiles where the entire face expels happiness.

“Sokka! How good to see you, my dear. Your usual, I presume?” She says all this while taking a bun and placing what looks like pieces of chicken pig covered with a peanut-y sauce into it before reaching for some kind of pickled vegetable that Zuko doesn’t recognize. 

“What do you want, Zuko?” Zuko startles at the attention. He had been spaced out, watching the woman's hands deftly put together Sokka’s meal. Unfortunately, he’s never had Gua Bao before, so he doesn’t really know what he wants. So, he says the first thing that comes to mind, which is “I’ll have the same thing he’s getting,” and points at the gua bao now in Sokka’s hands.

The woman quickly puts together his order and hands it to him while Sokka pays. However, Zuko is too busy digging into the absolutely delicious bun in his hands to say goodbye. The vegetable tastes kind of like ocean kumquats, and it contrasts wonderfully with the slight sweetness of the bun, and there’s a little kick of spice along with the peanuts in the sauce.

Sokka laughs at him a bit, taking a bite of his own, and says around his mouthful, “It’s good, right? I’m surprised you like the sea prunes, though. Not a lot of people do.”

“Tastes like ocean kumquats from the Fire Nation. It’s familiar.” is what Zuko says before diving into the last half of his gua bao.

Both of them are hungry after being surrounded by the fragrant smells, so they don’t speak anymore as they slowly walk back the way they came towards the sticky rice stall Zuko had seen. There’s a bit of a line once they reach it, but it all works out because it gives Zuko time to tell Sokka why he’s wrong about cold, sticky rice being disgusting.

“I’m just saying, the coconut milk sauce gets all congealed, and the texture is the worst! It’s like eating cold glue!” Sokka pouts.

“Oh, don’t be such a baby. If you can’t appreciate the glorious taste of sweet rice and mango, no matter the temperature, I think there must be something wrong with you,” he huffs. “Besides, it’s worth it because then you can have _leftovers_ , which is basically like double the dessert. You get to eat it once when you buy it, then save some for a pick me up the next day!”

“Oh, right, as if cold glue could be a ‘pick me up’” Sokka says, making exaggerated air quotes and trying to hide the twitching of his mouth that threatens to turn into a smile. However, before Zuko can offer a rebuttal, they’re at the front of the line. Zuko orders the mango sticky rice, while Sokka takes a chance on the new kind with moon peaches on it instead.

Sokka immediately leads Zuko by the hand to a bench on the edge of the market, and he plops down and pulls Zuko to sit directly next to him, so they are touching shoulder to thigh. Sokka’s warmth comforts him from the outside, and his first bite of dessert spreads it to the inside too. Sitting peacefully, with the wind ruffling his hair and a cute date next to him while eating his favorite dessert can’t get any more perfect.

Even after they’re both done, and Zuko has finished off the last bit of Sokka’s moon peach rice, they just sit there. Zuko leans his head carefully against Sokka’s shoulder and watches the people go by, taking notice of the variety of colorful and drab clothing in front of him. 

He yawns widely.

And then he yawns again. Because he still wasn’t getting enough sleep because he had left Wang Fire Mattresses empty-handed again last time he’d been there. 

“You’re still tired?” Sokka whispers against his cheek. Zuko nods slowly, trying not to move his head too much. He’s so comfortable where he is and doesn’t want Sokka to get the wrong idea. Luckily, he just continues leaning his head against Zuko’s for a minute or two before speaking again.

“Um. I was thinking,” Sokka sounds strangely hesitant compared to how he’s been all afternoon. “I’ve had a really great time today and don’t really want it to end, so you could come over to my apartment and take a nap and stay for dinner? If you like? I promise I won’t turn into a murderer or something if you say no.”

In his head, Zuko yells “YES” immediately because he also does not want this day to end. _But_ , he thinks to himself, _what if Sokka thinks that’s too enthusiastic of me? Or he’s just saying that to be nice?_

So, what he actually says is, “I wouldn’t want to impose…” and trails off to let Sokka make the next move. 

“You wouldn’t be imposing at all! I promise. You could just lay on the couch, and there’s this really cool show I like about organizing things, and it’s really relaxing, so I can just watch that! It’ll be fun!” Sokka has a semi-pleading look on his face, and that's enough to convince Zuko that Sokka really does want him to come over, so he nods his head and laughs at Sokka’s enthusiastic whoop in response. Also, the thought of possibly getting to cuddle was a big motivator. He couldn't miss out on this chance.

* * *

Sokka’s keys jangle against the bits and bobs attached to the keyring as he opens his apartment door. He barely opens the door and squeezes through hissing “Back! Back Momo!” through his teeth. Zuko watches him bend down and grab something, and then the door is opened wide. 

In Sokka’s arms is one of the cutest cats he’s ever seen. It’s white and fluffy, with a black tail and a collar of black around its neck. The cat - Momo, he presumes - has enormous ears and wide green eyes and is batting softly at a lock of Sokka’s hair that fell out of his wolf-tail.

Zuko steps inside, closing the apartment door after him and reaches out reverently to the cat.

“Hey there, kitty cat.” He whispers, stroking along its forehead.

“Awwwww, he likes you!” squeals Sokka. He pushes Momo into Zuko’s arms and then putters around the entryway, putting his keys on a hook and his shoes by the door. Zuko copies with his own shoes, and then finally gets the chance to look around at the space. The kitchen is just visible, and it looks cluttered and well-loved. There are boxes of cereal lined up on a counter and lots of drawings on the fridge. Sokka must have a younger sibling, too, because they remind Zuko of the pictures he’d made when he was around five.

Sokka starts leading him to the living room, which has three bookshelves, all of them stuffed full to the brim with various books. He can see some popular fantasy and sci-fi series, which are right next to complicated looking titles about engineering.

“Do you want anything to drink? I’m pretty sure I have lemonade.”

“Oh, no thanks, I’m good,” Zuko says, walking over to the worn-out but comfy looking couch. He sets Momo down, who immediately runs over to Sokka and does a pretty crazy leap up onto his shoulders. 

“Hey, buddy,” Sokka says, nudging the cat with his head, “You wanna help me get some blankets?” As he says this, he walks over to a covered basket in the corner next to the small television. The minute the top is off, Momo jumps right into it, presumably landing in a pile of blankets. Sokka laughs good-naturedly but pushes the cat aside and pulls out a couple of fluffy looking blankets. 

Zuko takes a seat on the couch, watching Sokka grab a notebook from where it was perched on a bookshelf, and then he sits next to him, tossing the blankets over Zuko’s shoulders and arranging them for a moment.

“You can lay down if you want to,” Sokka says, reaching out to grab the remote. He turns the TV on with a click and makes sure the volume is barely loud enough to hear.

Zuko waits until Sokka seems all settled before bringing his feet up on the couch and laying his head in Sokka’s lap. A peppy theme song comes on the TV, and he can just barely see Sokka arranging the notebook flat on the arm of the couch.

“What’s the notebook for?” he asks.

“I like to take notes when I watch this show. I’m trying to get my house a little more organized, especially my bookshelves. They’re a bit of a mess.” 

“Oh,” Zuko says, and he yawns once, then closes his eyes. Sokka must be planning to take notes one-handed because he feels fingers gently settle into his hair, stroking back and forth and in delicate patterns. 

“I just wanted you to know,” Zuko tells him, just before sleep claims him, “I really like you and...had a lot of fun today.”

Sokka bends over, places a gentle kiss on his forehead, and rubs his hand over Zuko’s shoulders.

“I had fun today too. Now get some rest. You’re exhausted every time I see you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm fairly certain I've had gua bao before (in my memory this was a few years ago, so I could be completely making this up) and all I remember is that it was delicious, so I just described the flavors based on the ingredients, so hopefully, that's more or less what it tastes like? And the sticky rice argument is one me and my little sister have had. I'm on team "it's good whatever the temperature" and my sister says the texture is awful and gluey no matter what so. (shes wrong it's delicious)
> 
> Thank you so so so much for reading if you've gotten this far! This is my first multi-chap fic and I'm extremely proud of it.


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